Cultural Background, Eco-Environment Awareness and Pesticide Application Behavior of Farmers

For the safety of agricultural produce, eco-environment and human health is of crucial importance to standardize farmers' behavior of pesticide application. Based on the data of the survey in Hubei P rovince and Hainan Province involving 800 farmer households on pesticide application, an empirical analysis was performed of relationships between background, eco-environment awareness and pesticide application behaviors, including choice of intervals between applications, preparation of pesticides of different concentrations, disposal of pesticides leftover, etc.. Results show that background of the farmers, namely, genders, education level, planting scale and size of family household, has significant influences on their pesticide application behavior, while eco-environment awareness of the farmers has significant impacts not only on their pesticide application behaviors, but also on the relationship between farmers' background and their pesticide application behaviors. The essential features of farmers' pesticide application behavior have been objectively analyzed and it may serve as a theoretical basis for studies on cost-saving and eco-agricultural production.